Young Offenders (Hansard, 30 November 1989)

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many specialised units for young offenders exist in the United Kingdom; and if he will list them.

§ Mr. Mellor
There are 35 male and female young offender institutions in England and Wales. The position in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is a matter respectively for my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and for Northern Ireland. The list of the young offender institutions in England and Wales is as follows:

Aylesbury

Bullwood Hall¹

Campsfield House

Castington

Deerbolt

Dover

Drake Hall¹

East Sutton Park

Eastwood Park

Everthorpe

Feltham

Finnamore Wood

Glen Parva

Grendon

Guys Marsh

Hatfield

Hewell Grange

Hollesley Bay Colony

Huntercombe

Kirklevington Grange

Lowdham Grange

The Mount

New Hall¹

Northallerton

Onley

Portland

Stoke Heath

Styal¹

Swinfen Hall

Thorn Cross

Usk

Wellingborough

Werrington

Wetherby

Whatton

¹ Female prisons which are also designed as young offender institutions.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders are presently awaiting trial in local adult prisons.

§ Mr. Mellor
According to the records held centrally, about 640 males and 60 females aged under 21 were held 385W as untried prisoners in local prisons and in remand centres not exclusively designated for those aged under 21 in England and Wales on 30 September 1989.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if young offenders once sentenced are automatically confined in specialised units.

§ Mr. Mellor
The great majority of young offenders who receive custodial sentences are sentenced to detention in a young offenders institution. Of these, male juveniles and short sentenced young adults are committed directly from court to a young offender institution; the rest are initially committed to an allocation unit, usually within a local prison or remand centre, for a short period for assessment before being transferred to an appropriate young offender institution.
Young offenders sentenced to detention in a young offender institution may be retained in a prison, at the direction of the Secretary of State, for example for judicial, compassionate or medical reasons, for accumulated visits, or for reallocation.